The end.
My friend Joy leaves on Saturday to go to Bosnia for a year to be a missionary. She told me two years ago that she wanted to be a missionary, and now she is going off to do that. I will miss her SO MUCH!!! :-(
Four awesome people from Slovakia were here for six weeks, and there time in America is over. They leave on Tuesday, and tonight I said goodbye to them, but since I'm terrible at goodbyes, it was short and sweet.
We won't be meeting at the Bartons' house anymore for bible study, we are moving it to the church. I will miss being at their house, seeing the kids every week and holding the baby, seeing Lee Ann, and just being there.
The beginning.
Every Tuesday morning I will be meeting with my friend Katie to read and talk about the bible! I'm so excited to do this with her and grow together and pray together.
This year I'm teaching 11th and 12th grade girls with Katie, and last year we had 9th and 10th grade girls. It will be at night this school year instead of Sunday morning. I look forward to having everybody together instead of being split between two hours of services!
Bible study at the church means everybody can be together again. We were split between two houses and I missed the people from the other house. I also think this will help us grow more, and I look forward to the new people coming!
I feel like the year starts over twice every year!! January is the calendar year, and September is the school year.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Rememer when?
I'm reading back through old journals. Back, back, back. You know what happens when you read them back? You laugh at funny things, you smile at great memories, and your heart aches at sad ones. You see answered prayers, things you missed, and you see the big picture. When years start blurring together, you can see where things changed. When you only remember the bad things about something, you can read back and find the good things. And vice versa.
It's funny to see where I wrote, "I will never...." and then it happened. Or "I'm certain that this will happen" and then it didn't. I swore I'd never like a certain guy. I swore I'd teach. I had grand plans.
I look at my mistakes. I look at my successes. I look at my past so I don't repeat it in my future.
And I think about how other people have forgotten all this stuff I have written down! They don't remember these things, just like I didn't until I read it again! There are some things that need to be shared again.
It's funny to see where I wrote, "I will never...." and then it happened. Or "I'm certain that this will happen" and then it didn't. I swore I'd never like a certain guy. I swore I'd teach. I had grand plans.
I look at my mistakes. I look at my successes. I look at my past so I don't repeat it in my future.
And I think about how other people have forgotten all this stuff I have written down! They don't remember these things, just like I didn't until I read it again! There are some things that need to be shared again.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Laughter, worship, and prayer
Last night we had our young adults' worship service with NorthStar. I sang along with 8 others - three played guitar, two switched out playing keyboard, and a few people jumped on one of those box drums called Cajon. We have done this once a month for a long time, but this "band" has been together since March.
We started off praying in the little kitchen. Who knows how we get on the topics we get on when we talk, but out of that I started saying, "bee-do, bee-do, bee-do" from the minions on Despicable Me 2. We noted that four of us had on green or greenish blue shirts on and were standing next to each other and it looked like the sea with the arrays of green and blues. And then one girl, Christina, had on a bright pink and orange skirt on and so she said she was a salmon in the sea. :-) Ah, yes, our funny conversations. We finally stood and held hands and prayed.
When we got on stage, Katie started off singing, "Oceans" by Hillsong, which is one of my favorite songs. And she rocked it. The next song was, "God's Great Dance Floor," by Chris Tomlin. Juraj led this song and played guitar. He is from Slovakia and is here for 6 weeks, and has an awesome voice! I saw smiles when we started the song and Juraj said, "It is hard to introduce a song in English so... welcome to God's Great Dance Floor." Tiffany led, "One Thing Remains" and played guitar as well during all of the songs and it was great! David led, "Beautiful Things," by Gungor, and at the end Katie and I sang the girl harmony section and when everybody joined in on their parts it was loud and beautiful, but I had to keep looking back to see if Katie and I were on the same beat/words because I couldn't hear her!
For the next song, I led, "Revelation Song," and for some reason as Juraj was playing the chords leading up to me starting, I couldn't hear the note I was supposed to start on! That has never happened for me! I started in a key that was way too low. After the first verse, I stopped and tried to listen again. Juraj almost stopped playing so I nodded and made the hand gesture for him to keep going. Finally I heard it right, and started in again. When I close my eyes to sing, I imagine that I am standing right in front of the Lord singing, and that takes away any nervousness or frustration at messing up. And then I just sing.
After communion, Bryan had us pray for Joy and Catherine who are leaving in a few weeks to go out of the country for a year. We all came around them and put hands on them and those around them. I hadn't expected to cry.... or sob for that matter. Then to turn right around and have to go back up on stage was a little tough! Mat'a led, "How Great is our God," and did an awesome job! She is also from Slovakia. She and Juraj sang part of the end in Slovak while we sang it in English. Beautiful.
Katie led, "At the Cross," and it was another great song. Christina led, "Jesus, Son of God," and her sweet voice made me proud. Right at the end of that song I realized I needed water and had left it against the wall off stage, so I put the mic down at the end and ran to get my water. I couldn't sing the next song without water! Katie and I sang verses for, "How He Loves," and that song had to be last because it wore me out!
We finished by praying for Aaron who is going to Indiana for 4 years. As we went to lay hands on him as well, we joked that we ran out of places to put hands on him. When Bryan prayed, at one point he said, "Help Aaron to find a good community where he going and to find great friends there too," and a ton of people said, "yes" or "uh-huh" or "mmm-hmmm" all at once and it was so funny that we all started laughing and then David threw in, "I echo that. I'm echoing your echo," which is from this funny video where they say all the things that Christians say and ham it up a bit. I think someone also yelled out, "Amen!" and then Bryan continued. In that moment where we were all laughing in the middle of prayer I just pictured God smiling on us too. Laughter and prayer was a beautiful thing.
After lots of hugs and conversations, some of us headed to Steak-n-Shake. When the waitress brought us waters, only a few of us had arrived to order them and more had then come. "Oh, I'm not sure who just got here... who needs a drink?" Brad D. said, "It's ok, we can share until more come." Everyone stopped and looked at him like he was crazy. We were like, "Um, no. We aren't sharing waters." Haha. Brad told us about the mugs and birdhouses he has made out of clay and sells, and how he's made mugs in blue, black, and another color that was kind of neutral but I forget which color. He said he wants them to be soothing and calm colors. I said, "Will you make me one in hot pink?!" So, we'll see about that. :-) It's ok, I don't need to be calm while I drink coffee. We talked about heaven and Brad joked that he wanted his own room. AJ wondered if we will have brains and I said probably not. We talked about the trinity, about bible verses, and things going on in our lives. Brad lost 50 cents to a cheap claw machine while trying to win a stuffed animal. Joy told us how almost all of her money has been raised to go to Bosnia and that she will be sending out monthly updates to us.
I write all of this to remember it.
We started off praying in the little kitchen. Who knows how we get on the topics we get on when we talk, but out of that I started saying, "bee-do, bee-do, bee-do" from the minions on Despicable Me 2. We noted that four of us had on green or greenish blue shirts on and were standing next to each other and it looked like the sea with the arrays of green and blues. And then one girl, Christina, had on a bright pink and orange skirt on and so she said she was a salmon in the sea. :-) Ah, yes, our funny conversations. We finally stood and held hands and prayed.
When we got on stage, Katie started off singing, "Oceans" by Hillsong, which is one of my favorite songs. And she rocked it. The next song was, "God's Great Dance Floor," by Chris Tomlin. Juraj led this song and played guitar. He is from Slovakia and is here for 6 weeks, and has an awesome voice! I saw smiles when we started the song and Juraj said, "It is hard to introduce a song in English so... welcome to God's Great Dance Floor." Tiffany led, "One Thing Remains" and played guitar as well during all of the songs and it was great! David led, "Beautiful Things," by Gungor, and at the end Katie and I sang the girl harmony section and when everybody joined in on their parts it was loud and beautiful, but I had to keep looking back to see if Katie and I were on the same beat/words because I couldn't hear her!
For the next song, I led, "Revelation Song," and for some reason as Juraj was playing the chords leading up to me starting, I couldn't hear the note I was supposed to start on! That has never happened for me! I started in a key that was way too low. After the first verse, I stopped and tried to listen again. Juraj almost stopped playing so I nodded and made the hand gesture for him to keep going. Finally I heard it right, and started in again. When I close my eyes to sing, I imagine that I am standing right in front of the Lord singing, and that takes away any nervousness or frustration at messing up. And then I just sing.
After communion, Bryan had us pray for Joy and Catherine who are leaving in a few weeks to go out of the country for a year. We all came around them and put hands on them and those around them. I hadn't expected to cry.... or sob for that matter. Then to turn right around and have to go back up on stage was a little tough! Mat'a led, "How Great is our God," and did an awesome job! She is also from Slovakia. She and Juraj sang part of the end in Slovak while we sang it in English. Beautiful.
Katie led, "At the Cross," and it was another great song. Christina led, "Jesus, Son of God," and her sweet voice made me proud. Right at the end of that song I realized I needed water and had left it against the wall off stage, so I put the mic down at the end and ran to get my water. I couldn't sing the next song without water! Katie and I sang verses for, "How He Loves," and that song had to be last because it wore me out!
We finished by praying for Aaron who is going to Indiana for 4 years. As we went to lay hands on him as well, we joked that we ran out of places to put hands on him. When Bryan prayed, at one point he said, "Help Aaron to find a good community where he going and to find great friends there too," and a ton of people said, "yes" or "uh-huh" or "mmm-hmmm" all at once and it was so funny that we all started laughing and then David threw in, "I echo that. I'm echoing your echo," which is from this funny video where they say all the things that Christians say and ham it up a bit. I think someone also yelled out, "Amen!" and then Bryan continued. In that moment where we were all laughing in the middle of prayer I just pictured God smiling on us too. Laughter and prayer was a beautiful thing.
After lots of hugs and conversations, some of us headed to Steak-n-Shake. When the waitress brought us waters, only a few of us had arrived to order them and more had then come. "Oh, I'm not sure who just got here... who needs a drink?" Brad D. said, "It's ok, we can share until more come." Everyone stopped and looked at him like he was crazy. We were like, "Um, no. We aren't sharing waters." Haha. Brad told us about the mugs and birdhouses he has made out of clay and sells, and how he's made mugs in blue, black, and another color that was kind of neutral but I forget which color. He said he wants them to be soothing and calm colors. I said, "Will you make me one in hot pink?!" So, we'll see about that. :-) It's ok, I don't need to be calm while I drink coffee. We talked about heaven and Brad joked that he wanted his own room. AJ wondered if we will have brains and I said probably not. We talked about the trinity, about bible verses, and things going on in our lives. Brad lost 50 cents to a cheap claw machine while trying to win a stuffed animal. Joy told us how almost all of her money has been raised to go to Bosnia and that she will be sending out monthly updates to us.
I write all of this to remember it.
I'm so glad God said no
I used to pray that I could go to Georgia College and State University. God said no. I only lived out of my parents house for 2 years, but in those 2 years and having to pull out loans for college, I realized I would have been in much more debt if I went to GCSU instead of KSU and living at home 3 out of 5 of those years. I also would have missed out on meeting the people who are at NorthStar now because I would have been somewhere else, and I don't know where I would have gone on my own after college since someone invited me to the NorthStar young adults' bible study. I'm so glad God said no to going to GCSU.
I used to pray that certain guys would like me or that God would let me date certain guys. God said no. Some of them I realized later that we wouldn't match up on certain things and it would probably be a problem if we dated. Some of them I realized didn't really fall under what I was looking for, I was just following my emotions and "attraction" and saw that I was blinded. Some of them I realized later that they weren't ready to be in a relationship, and maybe I wasn't either at certain times. Some of them I realized just fit better with other girls than me. I'm so glad God said no. I still pray for a husband, but I try to pray less for specific guys because obviously I've been wrong every time.
I used to pray to get a job at Books-A-Million. God said no. After working at Lifeway Christian Bookstore, a few years later I got an interview with BAM and found out there was a lot of stuff I would hate about working at BAM. I'm so glad God said no.
I used to pray that I could sing for the young adults' service at my previous church. God said no. The other college students in the band said I wasn't needed, or only wanted me to sing one tiny bit of one song and stand there the rest of the time. Later I realized that I would have hated it even if they let me sing with them because we didn't get along, and when I started singing once a month at my current church for the young adults' service I realized how full of LOVE and selflessness there is. I'm so glad God said no to singing at my previous church.
I used to pray that all my close friends would stay here, and live life with me. God said no. He has called them to other places, other countries, other cities, other places, to further His kingdom. To go and make disciples of all nations. To tell others the good news and some day be in heaven. I'm so glad God said no.
I used to pray that certain guys would like me or that God would let me date certain guys. God said no. Some of them I realized later that we wouldn't match up on certain things and it would probably be a problem if we dated. Some of them I realized didn't really fall under what I was looking for, I was just following my emotions and "attraction" and saw that I was blinded. Some of them I realized later that they weren't ready to be in a relationship, and maybe I wasn't either at certain times. Some of them I realized just fit better with other girls than me. I'm so glad God said no. I still pray for a husband, but I try to pray less for specific guys because obviously I've been wrong every time.
I used to pray to get a job at Books-A-Million. God said no. After working at Lifeway Christian Bookstore, a few years later I got an interview with BAM and found out there was a lot of stuff I would hate about working at BAM. I'm so glad God said no.
I used to pray that I could sing for the young adults' service at my previous church. God said no. The other college students in the band said I wasn't needed, or only wanted me to sing one tiny bit of one song and stand there the rest of the time. Later I realized that I would have hated it even if they let me sing with them because we didn't get along, and when I started singing once a month at my current church for the young adults' service I realized how full of LOVE and selflessness there is. I'm so glad God said no to singing at my previous church.
I used to pray that all my close friends would stay here, and live life with me. God said no. He has called them to other places, other countries, other cities, other places, to further His kingdom. To go and make disciples of all nations. To tell others the good news and some day be in heaven. I'm so glad God said no.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
#blessed
These people that God has brought into my life over the past year, and some longer, fuel me every week, inspire me, and spur me on to be a better person. They hold me accountable, they pray for me, they love me, and they speak truth into my life. Going from 4 years of very little friends to 3 years of deep friendships has been an overflowing well of water that just gushes. Words don't even describe it. It's a true picture of love amongst Christians that I want for my entire life. I hardly know how to show them my appreciation, but I try every time I'm around them to fully grasp the blessing so as not to take them for granted, ever.
# blessed
# blessed
Thursday, August 1, 2013
HA!
Funny happenings.
One coworker made a caramel Frappuccino and in the process of handing it to my other coworker, they managed to drop it straight into the trashcan. He had to make it again, and wasn't thrilled, but it struck me as hilarious. Better the trashcan than the floor!
For my entire life I've said that the nursery rhyme was, "Cheater cheater pumpkin eater," but I said that at work about something and my coworkers said, "What? It's Peter Peter pumpkin eater." I said, "But he had a wife and couldn't keep her, so I thought he was a cheater??" "No..." they said. I googled it and they were right. HA! Wow.
One of my coworkers said to me, "You looked like you were going to jump that guy. I would have been ok with that even though I'd have to get on to you." I said, "You'd be clapping and applauding me at the same time as saying, 'Stop it! Stop!'" Obviously I'd never actually jump somebody. But it was funny.
Tonight at Firehouse Subs I went to sit down. I pulled out the chair but somehow my foot pushed/kicked one of the legs and I lost my balance as the chair slid out from under me, but I grabbed on to the chair and finally sat down. Whew. Who knew sitting could be so awkward?
One coworker made a caramel Frappuccino and in the process of handing it to my other coworker, they managed to drop it straight into the trashcan. He had to make it again, and wasn't thrilled, but it struck me as hilarious. Better the trashcan than the floor!
For my entire life I've said that the nursery rhyme was, "Cheater cheater pumpkin eater," but I said that at work about something and my coworkers said, "What? It's Peter Peter pumpkin eater." I said, "But he had a wife and couldn't keep her, so I thought he was a cheater??" "No..." they said. I googled it and they were right. HA! Wow.
One of my coworkers said to me, "You looked like you were going to jump that guy. I would have been ok with that even though I'd have to get on to you." I said, "You'd be clapping and applauding me at the same time as saying, 'Stop it! Stop!'" Obviously I'd never actually jump somebody. But it was funny.
Tonight at Firehouse Subs I went to sit down. I pulled out the chair but somehow my foot pushed/kicked one of the legs and I lost my balance as the chair slid out from under me, but I grabbed on to the chair and finally sat down. Whew. Who knew sitting could be so awkward?
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